Purple Hair, Don't Care: The Bully in the Library

As I work through Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers mystery series, I'm happy to find that each book is better than the last.  Still, I particularly enjoyed my most recent read, Death in the Stacks.

A plot twist turns Briar Creek Library into high school when Olive Boyle takes over as board president.  Intent on making a name for herself, Olive undermines the staff with her masterful manipulations.  Not only does she threaten to replace library director Lindsey Norris, she persecutes purple-haired newbie Paula to the point of tears.  Lindsey goes into protective mode, refusing to believe Olive's accusations that Paula is dangerous.  But things worsen when the middle-aged mean girl meets her end -- and Paula is caught with the knife.

Despite her vow to stop playing sleuth after nearly getting killed, Lindsey has no choice but to save one of her own.  But as she investigates, she ends up with more questions than answers, the most niggling of which is this: Did the queen bee have secrets?

That said, McKinlay's Olive is spot on, the kind of prissy and power-hungry tormentor that we've all run up against, if not in high school, then at some watershed.  Indeed, it's Olive's evilness that makes Lindsey's loyalty to Paula all the more meaningful.  I was very invested in clearing Paula's name, even if I couldn't discover whodunit due to the clever plot.

As chilling as it is charming, Death in the Stacks is more than worth checking out.